Redux
by Taryn Eithne
Summary: Formally of the Total Drama variety. Season 2 of the most talked about show on TV, still with all the drama... and on a farm? What was Chris thinking? the Courtney chapter, finally Mostly C/D, B/G. Also some G/T L/T I/O R&R please!
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

_Okay, let me have my go at this, I suppose. Erm… Oh! I'm a US citizen so I've seen what I can from TDI on Cartoon Network and on youtube, etc. but I have yet to see any of the final episodes despite knowing the final two (rumours Gwen will be winner for us Americans? Hmmm). My apologies for this being factually incorrect. I'll try to fix it as I learn and see more, with the exception of news regarding season 2, Total Drama Action. We're going to pretend that will never exist._

_Couples are Courtney/Duncan, Bridgette/Geoff, Gwen/Trent, and Tyler/Lindsay (maybe? This is a hard couple to work) as usual and I make no promises on any other couplings or ratings. On that note, I do take well meant suggestions both on couples and especially on challenges for this new show._

_Similarly, my apologies if I've stolen anybody's ideas. It's not on purpose, honestly, and I'll go for as original as possible but the theme is common, I know._

_Rated for language and possible cruelty to innocent contestants (and mature content later? Doubtful but I put this forth). Because I can't get around language sometimes and who doesn't love seeing somebody suffer?_

_On that note, allow me to shut my trap and get the story started!_

**Total Drama Island Redux**

_**Prologue**_

Chris MacClean was bored. Well, that was putting it mildly. To be completely honest, he had not had himself a good time since his hilariously sadistic exploits during his hosting of Total Drama Island, which he still looked fondly back on as the best few weeks of his life. You know, disregarding the hate mail and the vaguely alarming threats from the cast.

He was currently hosting an array of remotely entertaining game shows that involved very _little _physical abuse and was growing very tired of them, very quickly. Even Chef Hatchet, who had stuck with him through even the most boring of contests, had begun complaining about their rather glaring lack of a good time.

Imagine Chris's pleasant surprise, then, when he opened his apartment door one morning to discover an urgent package regarding very secret reality TV news. Chef and the camera crew were crammed into the bachelor's pad as soon as he had notified them, watching the cheaply made VHS (who even made _those_ anymore?) and bouncing in participation.

"It's been four years," the video begun, revealing the relaxed and plotting pose of some corporate executive, "And we've successfully managed our way through any lawsuit or poor review from the first season of Total Drama Island." But Chris knew that. He had actually suffered a little himself and even had to deal with a single grey hair because of it. "As you know, last season the critics were… less friendly, I'm afraid, than we were anticipating so we're reinstating your positions on the Total Drama Reality run. Now, the new season will be a bit different so let me go over the basics…"

.W.E.L.C.O.M.E.T.O.T.O.T.A.L.D.R.A.M.A.R.E.D.U.X.

"You've got to be kidding me." Bridgette gripped the letter tightly, her tiny fists shaking with shock. She read and reread the letter a grand total of eight times before thrusting it into the hands of Geoff, who was leaning precariously against the arm of his metro seat.

"Man," Geoff added after the silence of his reading, "They don't think we're gonna come back, do they?" Bridgette hurriedly thrust another piece of paper in his hands, this one being the familiar copy of the contract they had signed some four or five years ago, sans the highlights that now lay on the page.

"They seem to think that our contracts include this. Something about reunions and cast returns or something like that." Geoff didn't really know much about the fine print of contracts (did he bring his lawyer when he signed that thing? He couldn't really recall), so he just nodded. "This sucks." Bridgette buried her face in her hands and Geoff did his best to comfort her – you know, as best as he could with the surfer hunched over in a tiny metro seat.

"Maybe it won't be so bad this year," he reasoned quietly, which caught Bridgette's attention immediately. "I mean, this of it this way, B. It's a giant reunion with our old buds, right? Like a giant party in a house we get to crash 'cuz it's not even ours!"

Bridgette considered it for a moment, studying Geoff's new found excitement very carefully. She smiled lightly as he continued to grin and gave him a light hug. "I guess," she concluded, "We haven't seen any of the others since Owen's big bash, right? Even _Heather_ was cool then. Who knows? Maybe we've all changed for the better." Her thoughts trailed to the muscled partier beneath her embrace. She and Geoff had changed considerably, and she believed them to be some of the campers with the least amount to improve. She thought of Courtney, whose inner bad girl had been sprouting under the careful guidance of Duncan (who was probably not quite the delinquent he used to be under Courtney's own influence), and of DJ, who had shown surprising assertiveness when he locked Geoff and Bridgette in the tiny broom closet of Owen's yacht following _n__umerous_ failed courting attempts.

Maybe Geoff was right. How bad could it be? The last time she had met a great guy, made some new friends, and upped her local rep as surfer chick extraordinaire. The 100000 wasn't hers, but there was no telling how the odds would swing this time. She sighed, feeling most of her worries and resignations melt away just as they usually did around the mellow cowboy.

Geoff relaxed as he felt his girlfriend sigh contentedly beside him. He was already looking forward to the new contest and whatever reward it offered – you know, the boozing, partying kind of reward only their new setting could offer – and was glad Bridgette could see it that way, too.

Just as they were leaving the station, though, Bridgette spoke once more of the matter.

"Seriously though, Total Drama _Manor?_"

_... ... ... ...  
_

_I'm under the impression that prologues will always be unforgivably short. Please excuse that for this chapter because the next one will be much longer or I'll shoot my own foot._

_I'm going to assume they're legal at this point. In the show they're all 16 (Chris says so although I can't reference you past the first episode) so at four years some of them COULD be 21. I do so hate technicalities… and underage drinking glares at you_

_Anyway, this prude thanks you for reading; please let me know what you think!_


	2. Chapter 2: Welcome to the Manor

_Nineteen, of course! Alert as I am of cultural differences around the globe, I miss the one with which I can make an idiot of myself. Thanks, b3lla, and thanks to my reviewers so far; you guys are awesomely inspirational. Thanks also to Silent Comet for the website. Wikipedia is nice, that website was wicked._

_Anyway, yay! Have another chapter!_

**Total Drama Redux**

_**Episode 1**_

Manor, Harold decided, was an _extremely_ loose definition of their future abode. Dilapidated–Stable-in-the-Middle-of-Nowhere would have been a better description, and that was seriously NOT awesome. He KNEW the middle of nowhere, and this barely qualified, even for that.

They had been blindfolded (seriously, what was with these losers and blindfolds?) and shoved in a cramped carrier van after making them wait for at least an hour outside the bus station. And _that_ had not exactly been pleasant, either. He'd arrived only to receive a punch in the face from none other than Courtney – she was _so_ lucky she hadn't busted his glasses or he would have had to use some _serious_ martial arts on her. And then Duncan had tried to cheer her on and she had started _screeching_ at him, and Harold used the word screech very lightly. He hadn't been totally interested in the conversation, but he did overhear something like, "Communication, you thick skulled moron?" and other similarly well-placed insults. And of course the drive had contained nothing but complaints from around the vehicle, from Leshawna's freakout regarding somebody touching her butt (really, he had only nudged her in his awesome ability to stay balanced while blindfolded, and it hadn't been her _butt_, either) to Tyler's inevitable motion sickness that led to Lindsay's hour-long "doctoring" session. Harold was almost positive they had transversed the entire Canadian wilderness before being dumped in a heap outside this… this… whatever. Were they even still in Canada?

"Contestants!" A chipper voice called, interrupting Harold from his thoughts, "Welcome to Total Drama Manor!" And with that, a very familiar stunt double – or Chris I meant, of course – swung in on a rope and landed behind the podium and greeted the 22 with a grin. "And welcome to Oyen Ranch, Alberta!" Well, that answered that question at least.

"Now hold up just a minute," Leshawna interrupted, crossing her arms, "Are you telling me we're stuck on a farm? As in cows and horses and _muck_? You better tell me we're just relaxing in the ranch house."

"Aw, sorry Leshawna," Chris replied, "We're actually on a goat farm, dudes and dudettes. And you're not in the ranch house. You're in this awesomely restructured stable!"

DJ suddenly looked a little more thrilled to be around the tiny bleating farm animals, but Heather scoffed. "Restructured isn't exactly the right way of putting that," she complained, looking to the stables. "More like rejected and not fit for reuse." Chris scowled at her, but it only lasted a moment before his smile returned.

"That's where you guys come in!" This elicited a groan from well over half the group, and a confused "Huh?" from Lindsay in the back. "Which brings me to our first challenge. Come on and join me inside the stable." Chris motioned for the others to follow, and they all did so with little willingness. The moment they opened the door, they were greeted with the fowl scent of something like hay and manure.

Harold let out a groan that came out more of a sneeze and added, "Hay fever!" before taking a wheeze on his inhaler. Trent thumped him on the back (it was _harsh_) and added some condolences before stepping around his allergic teammate. Upon stepping in, however, Harold admitted that they had gone beyond his expectations – which weren't _high_ or anything – and had created a relatively believable home.

Chris was waiting in the middle of the building, which was a fairly large two-story living room. "So as you can see, the place has been divided into four different rooms for you guys, and of course two awesome luxury bathrooms." Harold dared guess what _luxury_ meant, according to Chris, but decided not to push anything by speaking up. Chris continued, ignoring the various snorts from a few of the campers. "Guys, you got the top floor--"

"Great, so when the floor collapses, they have the greatest chance of survival!" Heather cried, but Chris either didn't hear or ignored her and continued.

"And girls, you get the lower level. And we already divided you into your two teams, so if you could, dudes, keep the Tough Chickens on this side and the Raging Pigs on that side, it would be awesome." Twenty people slowly moved to stand in two groups, each staring warily at their teammates around them. Bridgette and Geoff exchanged a high-five as they both headed for the Raging Pigs' side, adding an extra when they were once again joined by DJ. Courtney also joined them, and Harold began to wonder if the teams had been identical as he was also on the team of the Raging Pigs. His suspicions were replaced, however, when he watched Duncan join Owen and Izzy on the other side. Owen offered him a large hug and Izzy joined them, offering the same to Trent, Eva, and Beth as they, too, joined the Tough Chickens. After watching this, Harold noticed that Leshawna had come to stand near him (better not tell her that had been _his_ hand) and Lindsay had followed her, waving sadly to Tyler on the Tough Chickens. Eventually Gwen had meandering to join Trent and the two shared a shy smile. Justin and Cody also joined them, the latter with a grin to a now certainly distraught Gwen. The last three to depart from the middle slowly but separately made their way towards the Raging Pigs. Ezekiel didn't seem to mind too much (Harold would bet he was just grateful he wasn't sharing a team with Eva), but Noah and Heather were making identical noises of disdain.

Sadie and Katie huddled unhappily in the middle. "You... you split us up again," Katie whimpered, clutching Sadie's hands in her own. The larger girl nodded and stuck out her lower lip in a pout.

"I'll switch agai--" Izzy began, but Duncan interrupted her by placing his hand on her shoulder.

"No," he stated loudly, "By all means, let me." He looked at Courtney, whose horrified expression reflected nothing of Duncan's self-satisfied smirk. The twins squealed and rushed to the side of the Tough Chickens, looking rather indiscreetly to where Justin was checking his hair. Harold suppressed a "Man!" in disappointment.

Courtney looked like she was about to say something as well, but Chris had apparently spent too much time away from the camera and so offered a quick, "Hey!" of attention and everybody remained silent. Courtney offered one more eep after a moment but Chris ignored her and continued speaking. "Your first challenge is in your bedrooms, so I'm just gonna leave you to it. See ya soon, dudes!" And with that, he had disappeared through the front door. Harold wondered when he had managed to make his trip all the way over there, but decided there were more important things to worry about – he needed to get to one of those top bunks first or he would totally be eating dust mites the whole trip!

The four groups began to disperse when Eva, who had been one of the first in the bedroom, let out a large howl. Beth jumped back from right behind her, but then peeked around to see what had been the problem. There, in the middle of the floor, was a large pile of haphazardly thrown boxes – and that was the extent of the furniture in the room. As this was discovered, the others rushed quickly to their own rooms to discover them in the same condition. DJ and Geoff moved towards the boxes to investigate them.

"Aw man," Geoff called to the others, "I think these boxes may be our beds."

"I'm not sleeping on a box," Ezekiel stated without any hesitation, and DJ reached down to pick one up – perhaps to test its comfortability.

"We're not sleeping on the boxes," he noted, lifting the box as if there were heavy materials inside, "We have to build what's _in_ the boxes."

"We have to _what_?" Everybody in the room jumped at the sudden cry, which was laced with so much distaste that it had to have been Heather.

"Look, it's just furniture," another girl shouted back – a girl that sounded much like Courtney – and the boys all exchanged a look that even Harold and Ezekiel knew meant _awesome catfight, room 2_. They were to the girls' dorm in half a heartbeat to see Heather and Courtney sharing a glaring competition, stances defensive. Courtney continued to speak, "And you just have to put it together _once_. I'm not losing the _first competition_ because you don't know how to use a wrench!"

"Oh, I know how to use a – " Heather began, but Lindsay interrupted her with a squeal.

"It's a picture book!" she cried. Apparently, she had gone into one of the boxes and located the instruction manual, which was in fact an illustrated guide. The other girls stared at her incredulously before Courtney sighed.

"Look, it doesn't look that complicated, can we just get started so this can be over soon? None of us are thrilled about this construction thing either." she offered, and the other girls (minus Lindsay, who was still "reading" the instructions) nodded in agreement. Heather offered her consent in the form of a curt nod.

"Nice negotiating, Princess." Harold had been turned around to leave when he heard Duncan's voice, so he missed the glare of a thousand daggers that Duncan received, but he didn't miss the outcry of rage that followed. Nor did he miss the bed box that came sailing between the other guys and nearly took him with it to the other side of the stable. He eyed a heaving Courtney as the other guys retreated, Duncan with a, "Thanks for the bed, sweetheart!" Harold knew not to stick around.

Fortunately the beds really weren't _that_ complicated, and after fighting over the tiny bucket of tools provided them the basics were quite clear. A few of the guys had lugged Duncan's bed up the stairs and within a few hours the Raging Pigs' male dorm was completed. They headed for the living room, where the guy half of the Tough Chickens were also waiting. It was less than ten minutes before the room was full of contestants. Somehow Izzy had managed to get grease smudges all over her face, and Courtney was looking more haggard than she had earlier, but they all seemed relatively unscathed.

"Beds all put together, I see," Chris called from the front door as he strode in, and the new ranch hands all glared at him. "Congratulations on completing your first challenge!"

"How do we know who won?" Trent spoke up – their team had been the first and the last group out of their rooms.

"There are no winners in this competition!" Chris cried, and Harold really couldn't agree more, "Although looking at some you guys' work really makes me wish we were having a vote off." He looked cautiously to the Raging Pigs' girls' room and Courtney slapped her hand over her face. Lindsay chuckled nervously, and Harold suspected they would be rebuilding a bed or two later in the week. "But despite what I kept telling them, you guys are all invited to the main house for dinner, so hurry up before Chef runs out of food. See you guys nice and bright in the morning!"

As they slowly followed where Chris's form had long disappeared, Harold vaguely wondered what "nice and bright," meant and Leshawna and Gwen shared agreements regarding free labor and cattle.

... ... ... ...

_Ugh, I hate having to discuss who's on what team. Sorry that part took so long._

_Anyway… I'm experimenting with a bit in this chapter. The first is this viewpoint-type writing style where it's mostly from one person but still a little omniscient and third person. I personally really like how it's going but feedback on that in particular would be awesome.  
The second is the personal camera things that I feel appear throughout the "episode." I want to include these because I feel it makes the whole thing more like the show but I'm not sure they're going to work. Hmm…_

_Oh, and sorry to the Duncan/Courtney fans; I promise this will have a happy ending for the happy couple! They're my favorite so I promise I won't let you down._

Basic edits: having some formatting issues bringing in files from word, so please excuse those as I work through these files to correct them. Thanks!


	3. Chapter 3: Morning, Ranchers!

_I wish I had a goat. But I don't know the first thing about raising them.  
_

**Total Drama Redux**

_**Episode 2  
**_

The ringing bell reminded Izzy a lot of that one time when she was staying with her uncle at Fort McKenna way up in Alaska and the alarm had gone off signaling and air raid from the Russian forces just across the way. That was one of the coolest things she had ever experienced because it meant she got to get on one of those huge machine guns on top of the tank and fire those exploding –

_Ok, I'm sorry – I really wouldn't do that to you. I don't think I could even do that.  
_

There really had been a ringing bell, although if you asked Courtney she would tell you it was more like in those old movies about the South where the perfect housewife in pearls rang for her hardworking farmer husband to come in for dinner instead of a siege alarm. And she certainly wasn't a hardworking husband, but she got up in response to the bell anyway.

Moseying out of the room with the rest of her roommates, Courtney rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and vaguely wondered what time it was. The ticking clock in the living room revealed it to be five in the morning, and Courtney wasn't really surprised. She made her way to the bathroom to begin her day, bumping absentmindedly into Bridgette along the way. The two mumbled an apology that each sounded like, "Mry," but ignored everything else. It only took about a second to discover that the water in the showers was always going to be ice cold, so Courtney's shower only lasted about three minutes before she just had to be out. Scowling, she dressed and made her way down the stairs.

"Ranchers!" Chris called, making his presence known amongst the slowly growing group in the living room, "How did you guys sleep in your news beds?" There seemed to be few complaints regarding the quality of sleep, but a few let out some grunts and groans of annoyance. Apparently, Owen's bed had collapsed in the middle of the night; the others seemed more incensed about the noise it created than Owen discovering his mattress on the _floor. _"Excellent," he continued, "'Cuz we got some work for you outside! Hurry up with the dressing and stuff and meet me by the goats in ten!"

He was gone again almost magically. Courtney pondered briefly about the travelling habits of their host but didn't let it much get to her because she only had a few minutes to throw her clothes on and even _figure out_ where the goats were.

She ended up walking with Bridgette after donning her oldest jeans and a worn Student Council t-shirt (had this been the one from just before Total Drama Island? She thought so…) and praying her tennis shoes didn't suffer too much. Bridgette had chosen similar clothes, and the two were warily traversing the largely unexplored farmlands in search of any hints of goat. Geoff caught up to them shortly before they found the old barn housing the goats, sporting his raggedy flip-flops. The two girls shared a laugh at his expense before entering the small barn.

DJ was already in there, cooing at some of the goats who were bleating back happily. He gave them a hearty, friendly wave before returning his affections to the goats. The three watched nervously before other campers began to show. Chris joined them as well, only this time talking animatedly with one of the camera crew (_duh_, Courtney thought,_ I totally forgot those guys would be here_). As soon as he had counted all 22 heads, however, he clapped his hands together and bellowed a cheerful morning greeting.

"I hope you guys got a good night's sleep 'cuz you got a lot of work to do this morning," he greeted, and then leaned forward a little to receive the complaints.

"When do we get breakfast?" Owen asked, and though his voice always sounded cheery Courtney was certain there was a little panic in there as well. Chris let out a maniacal laugh and Courtney felt herself flinch along with Owen.

"You gotta take care of the goats first, big guy." Owen face crinkled up as though he was about to unleash a torrent of tears, and even Chris looked worried, "But don't worry! All you have to do is move 'em to the feeding pasture and _then_ you can come get your breakfast!"

Owen instantly cheered, but Gwen looked skeptical. "That's the whole challenge? Herding some goats to a field?" She crossed her arms and the others looked to Chris expectantly.

He looked thoroughly insulted. "Cha – of course not!" he shrieked, causing of few the men to let out manly chuckles. Chris crossed his arms in a pout and glared at them. "I'm not _telling_ you the rest of the challenge until you're back from the first part! Get moving!"

The large group began shuffling out when Beth bravely turned back to Chris to ask where they were going. The host barked out a sharp reply that even the others heard, for which Beth looked grateful. There were exactly 22 goats that Courtney could count once they were outside, and immediately the goats began spreading out, exploring every crevice in the farm ground. Courtney looked around. Clearly somebody needed to take charge of this before they lost a goat, or a person, or something.

"Ok guys, everybody pick a goat and head – "

"For the hills, right?" Noah was looking smug at his own witty comment, but nobody else seemed impressed and Courtney looked (and felt) mildly violent. He brushed them off with his shoulders and meandered towards a particularly puny looking goat while the others each randomly chose their creature. Gwen was the first to choose a large stick for her herding process but Courtney had to agree that this was indeed a good method for moving the nannies and billies before them. She joined the Goth near the front of the herd and prayed that wherever they were going wasn't too far off.

It was, of course, over a mile walk. And a very eventful mile walk, considering the time of day. The goats, friendly as they were, were also rather curious creatures that tended to wander unless firmly directed by the guiding rancher. Courtney felt hers was particularly troublesome because it seemed to want to make friends with everybody, including each individual plant it passed. It kept Courtney so delayed that she found herself near the back of the herding line while Gwen and Trent maintained the front. She tried to keep her cool by staring straight at the goat in front of her and at the path before it. At some point Duncan had greeted her with a, "Having fun yet, Princess?" and she wanted to yell that he was prodding the poor goat too hard, but she was too horrified to speak. Her goat wasn't even on the trail anymore, but she couldn't be bothered. Right in front of them walked Geoff and Bridgette, and Geoff's barely clad foot had just trod in a giant pile of goat poo.

She caught the insulted look on Duncan's face when she ignored him, but in her appalled stupor she pointed blankly to where Geoff and Bridgette were getting farther ahead. Duncan looked to where she was pointing and immediately choked on his own laughs. Heather, Lindsay, and Tyler all caught up behind them and gave them a questioning stare, and Duncan finally let out a giant guffaw.

"Duncan!" Courtney cried, hitting him in his side with her stick, "Cut it out!" He let out a grunt of pain but continued laughing. By now Bridgette and Geoff had both also stopped to look behind them and Courtney gave them a horrified expression.

"Oh man," the delinquent let out finally and between gasps, and everybody waited for him to continue. Courtney let out one more hiss in warning and kicked his shoe – her goat nudged him as if it agreed, but he ignored both. "Man," he gasped out again, but couldn't keep going. Finally he just pointed to Geoff's feet.

It moved in slow motion for Courtney. She could feel her cheeks flare up as all the attention turned to Geoff and he looked down to his feet. Heather and Lindsay's cries of disgust and Bridgette's revolted expression mirrored what Courtney's had been just moments before, she could tell.

"Gross, dude!" Geoff cried, wiping it desperately against the grass. When the desperate motions did nothing but smear the pie, Geoff began to shake his foot back and forth, much to the shock of everybody surrounding him. Bits of goat droppings were airborne almost instantaneously, and Courtney cried out, seeking shelter behind the still laughing Duncan.

"That was the most disgusting thing, ever." Geoff stated once he had removed what he could, and Bridgette gave him a very dirty look before. "How long was it like that?"

"Princess totally watched you step in it," Duncan offered with a smirk and Courtney screeched again behind him.

"You're the one that started laughing!" she countered, pointing at him accusingly, and not noticing that Geoff wasn't even paying attention anymore.

"Yeah, but you should have seen your face!" Somebody's goat bleated in agreement. Courtney glared at her own companion, who was munching happily on some thistle near the trail. Duncan's nudged hers away and ate the rest. She glared at it too.

"Look," Heather interrupted, "Can we just move on? I swear this smell is getting into my hair."

Lindsay looked horrified again. "It can get in your hair? Oh my God is _my_ hair okay?"

Ignoring Tyler's, "I think it looks fine," Duncan put his arm around Courtney and gave Heather a grin. "Already forgotten," he stated, and nudging the two munching kids turned Courtney around and continued their journey.

"Hey guys," Trent brushed his way past Geoff and Bridgette to approach the group, pulling Gwen behind him by the hand. "There's a pen just over the hill. See you at breakfast!" Duncan let out a whoop and ushered both Courtney and the goats faster. He even managed to get a decent squeeze on her behind before boosting her over the crest of the hill and into the throng of retreating ranchers.

"Ogre!" she cried, but he was already laughing again.

Ugh. This was totally all Chris's fault.

… … … …

_Ever notice Chris's continual use of exclamation points? Is it hard to write for you guys?_

_And you know what? Working 22 people is damn hard! How the hell do you do it? I don'tt think Noah or Eze or Eva have actually said anything besides "scoff" or "growl." Sad face.I'm also trying to ease my way into Duncan's personality. The others are either easy or don't really talk much, either in the show or in my imaginings of their characters but Duncan is somebody whose motivations and thoughts seem to elude logic for me._

_Please review and let me know what you think. Really the more reviews I receive, the more I want to write, and any (polite) criticisms are really helpful with my writing style._


	4. Chapter 4: Part II

_This is officially my most read (and watched) story. Thank you so much guys!_

**Total Drama Redux**

_**Episode 2, Part 2**_

Much to the surprise of – well, everybody, Chef Hatchet's breakfast was actually reasonable. Even Heather wasn't doing much complaining, and that was a welcome retreat for DJ, who was dreading sitting next to her for the whole thing. But the spoiled Daddy's girl said nothing the entire breakfast – nobody except Owen said anything, and his outbursts were mostly about the incredible awesomeness of the food.

"I can see you guys ate well," Chris greeted once everybody was patting their engorged stomachs, "I hope you're ready to walk it off 'cuz your goat buddies are done too. You guys gotta go fetch them and bring them back here for the rest of the challenge."

The matter of rolling off the table stools was a little more difficult than DJ and the other ranchers had originally intended it, but the mile walk back to the goat pen certainly made that easier. When the ranchers finally arrived, the goats were as bloated as they felt, but were still munching happily on the brush and weeds below them.

"There's my little Billy," DJ cooed, picking out the goat he had escorted up here (DJ _knew_ that was his because it radiated a hipness only DJ's goat could) and patting it on the head.

"Actually, that's a doe," Beth corrected quietly, "Or a nanny, whichever you want to call it. You can tell it's a girl because of the –"

"Ok, girl, I think he gets the picture," Leshawna interrupted, and though Beth had the poor goat's leg hoisted high in the air and DJ had donned a complete look of horror, the smaller girl quit talking.

"It would be more appropriate to call it Jane, then, wouldn't it?" Noah joked. He added, "You know, Jane Doe?" but still nobody laughed. He looked like he was going to shout when Ezekiel began laughing.

"I get it, eh?" the homeschooled boy called, "Jane Doe."

Leshawna humphed , not amused, and DJ scratched his head a bit. He would have to ponder that one later, because _Nanny_ – the name slightly reminded him of his old pet bunny – was beginning to wander off again and already the other ranchers were moving back towards camp. Only Courtney, Cody, and Duncan remained but only because Courtney was busy yelling at Duncan and Cody was having difficulty making his goat move forward. Ushering Nanny on, DJ also rounded Cody and his companion with a broad sweep of his arms. The considerably smaller man offered a thanks and DJ smiled. They began to maneuver their way past the arguing duo carefully.

"Your stupid goat!" Courtney shouted just as DJ passed and he thought maybe his eardrum had burst, "It – it – would you take control of that thing!"

"Relax, _Princess_, it's just trying to figure you out!" Duncan argued back equally loud.

"It's nibbling on my shirt and – ow! Kicking me! _My_ goat isn't kicking me!"

"Maybe _your_ goat is an ice queen like you!" DJ and Cody had to stop at this point because Courtney's fury passed over them like fire on a field. They turned cautiously to see the petite woman clenching her fists, feet wide apart, mouth grim and thin and Duncan standing tall, as though he were a knight prepared to fight the dragon.

DJ figured the metaphor wasn't very far off.

"So I'm an _ice queen_ now, am I?" she hissed, crossing her arms and hunching her shoulders, "It's nice to know at least your _originality_ hasn't changed." With that, she gave her goat a rather hard shove and forced her way past the two men watching. Cody made a wide step to avoid her but she bumped DJ a bit as she passed, and the hefty softie was surprised at how strong the girl could be in her anger.

"Yeah, you would know about change, wouldn't you? Your Majesty?" Duncan called after her. When she replied with nothing but a brief birdie, he scowled and looked to DJ and Cody staring back at him. "What are _you_ looking at?" he growled, and picked up his goat under his arm. It bleated happily at him but he just muttered something under his breath and forced his own way through the parted crowd.

DJ and Cody remained behind, looking to each other for answers. Eventually Cody shrugged and followed after the two angered teammates.

"C'mon, Nanny and Nanny Jr," DJ called after a few moments time, "We gotta get back eventually." Nanny bleated in agreement, and Nanny Jr. nudged her a bit. DJ took that as a yes and the three began their own journey back.

They were the last ones to return but DJ knew that would be the case. By the time Nanny and Nanny Jr had passed through the gate, Chris was just finishing his welcome backs. He waved to DJ, who took a seat next to Geoff. The two shared a high five before Geoff returned to his position of draped across Bridgette. She laughed and pushed him gently before returning her attention to Chris.

"Okay, guys, your challenge for today is actually pretty simple. You've walked and fed your goats for today, and now you gotta milk 'em."

"Milk them!?" Owen cried, his eyes getting dreamy and his hands clasping together, "As in, we get to drink the milk? That sounds delicious!"

Most of the others seem to disagree wholeheartedly, with complaints ranging from, "I've never even _looked_ at a goat there," to "This is _so_ not favorable to any of my possum scout skills," to "Uh, I think my allergies prevent me from going near anything hairy and filthy."

Chris's unsatisfied scowl appeared. "I'm not _asking_ you to milk them, dudes. I'm _telling_ you to grab a pail and get your butts out there!" Then he brushed his hair back with his hand, and his smile returned. "The team to acquire the most goat's milk in an hour… actually doesn't win anything this time, but they won't be sitting around the campfire tonight and won't be sending anybody home in the Plane of Shame."

"This is so lame!" Heather cried suddenly, cutting off whatever Chris was going to say next. "This is the exact same garbage we had to deal with on – "

"Just get milking!"

22 contestants shuffled awkwardly outside to eye the content goats warily. They slowly gathered the 22 buckets that were waiting for them and approached the large herd slowly.

There was a pregnant pause when everybody stopped and looked to the goats rather awkwardly. "Okay guys, what exactly are we doing?" Lindsay asked finally, scratching her head absently and swinging the bucket around.

"I think this is the first time ever, but I second Lindsay," Duncan agreed, crossing his arms and looking disdainfully to the happily unawares goats.

"It's not that hard, eh?" Ezekiel spoke up suddenly, "You just gotta take 'er by the teats and—"

"Wait, Zeke, buddy. _You_ know how to milk these things?" Geoff looked shocked, amongst other ranchers. Ezekiel looked fairly insulted but shook it off.

"I was raised in the plains, remember?" he asked, and some nodded in affirmation. "I know how to milk a cow. It's the same concept, eh? Look." He leaned down to Nanny the Third (DJ began thinking he was going to need some better names) and set down his bucket. Within moments, milk was flowing freely from the now bleating goat and the ranchers watched in sheer curiosity. Soon some began to study the motions carefully while others looked a little more skeptical.

"Ok guys, I think we get the concept," Courtney stated finally. "Who wants to get started next?" Nobody volunteered immediately, but soon Gwen and Bridgette had taken it upon themselves. Neither was successful at first, but soon the two girls had gotten the hang of it and were actually giggling as they worked. This inspired a bit more confidence than Ezekiel previous had, and soon all twenty two campers were busily working on milking their own goat. Within the hour, only a few ranchers had been unsuccessful. Among those were Beth, Noah, and Lindsay, and while Izzy had successfully drawn milk from her goat, she had been too busy "testing its deliciousness" to actually get any in the pail.

"That's it!" The others all paused in their work to stare at Noah in his unexpected outburst. "This is completely messing up my allergies. I am _not_ meant for this kind of work."

"That's ok, man, I got a full bucket," Ezekiel stated, and moved to take over the work for Noah. DJ shared a surprised look with Geoff, but neither said anything as Noah moved to sit against the fence. "Whoa," Ezekiel stated after a moment or two, "Noah buddy, you been tryin' to milk a dude, eh?"

"Oh man! That's so gross, dude!" Geoff cried. DJ would have agreed, but he was feeling a little nauseous, and from the looks of Noah, he wasn't feeling as good about it, either.

"Why the hell is there a boy goat out here?" Heather asked incredulously, motioning vaguely towards where Noah was doing his best not to lose his lunch.

Beth scratched her ear. "Because they have to have a billy to keep the doe making milk."

"And we didn't actually think you guys would try to _milk_ it!" Chris cut in, clutching his sides as he laughed on the side of the fence. "Dude, you should see your face!"

Courtney looked pensive for a moment before speaking up. "Chris, that means there aren't enough goats for all of us to have been milking one." Crossing her arms, she added, "How were we supposed to win?"

"Well," Chris began, finally wiping his eyes and letting the last of the chuckles melt away, "It _was_ supposed to be a race. You were supposed to be able to get at least a pail per person. But since Ezekiel over here is the only one who actually did that, there obviously ended up being a shortage."

"It's Zeke, eh?" Ezekiel tried to but in, but Chris ignored him and kept talking.

"So I guess Chef and I are gonna gather whatever it is you losers got and we'll let you know who has the most."

It didn't take long for Chef Hatchet to gather all the buckets and distribute the amounts gathered, Chris and the ranchers watching curiously. "Surely Zeke's whole pail is enough to make us win," Courtney rationalized, and DJ thought that it was logical. Unfortunately, as the goats' milk was poured, it became clear that the Tough Chickens had actually gathered the most.

"And so despite Zeke's awesome effort, it looks like the Raging Pigs are going to be joining me at the campfire tonight!" Chris announced once the pails were completely emptied and the results were for certain. The Tough Chickens let out a whoop or two while the Courtney and Heather identically slapped their hands to their faces in frustration.

"I have to admit," Bridgette stated after a moment, "I didn't get much. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be." Geoff and DJ both offered their agreements.

The campfire that night reminded them a lot of the bonfire from Camp Wawanakwa. However, the land around it was flat and the space was surrounded by a short cattle fence. The ranchers were placed on tree stumps that circled the much smaller fire, and Chris joined at the highest plot of land, still standing.

"Ranchers! Welcome to the new location," he greeted, "We're running pretty much the same routine here, guys. Eleven of you come in, and only ten of you will be leaving through that gate post there." He pointed to the way through which they had come in for emphasis. "The other one," he pointed to a different gate, "will be headed to the Plane of Shame." The Plane of Shame was a tiny, shabby little single engine that let out a puff as Chris introduced it. Chef waved from the pilot's seat, but DJ suspected he didn't actually own a pilot's license. He felt himself shudder at the thought of going in the air with Chef Hatchet. Leshawna next to him shuddered as well and voiced her concerns. "Don't be ridiculous," Chris had countered before she had even uttered a complete sentence, "Chef knows what he's doing. Besides, you're the one receiving the first lifeline for tonight." With that, he revealed to the ranchers a large stick on which were skewered ten sausages. He took one off and tossed it to Leshawna, who caught it and eyed it warily.

"Wieners, huh," Duncan asked, plucking the small meaty thing from Leshawna's fingers and giving it a try. She let it go without complaint. Harold let out a "Yes!" and gave a victory pump with his fist, but Bridgette crinkled her nose.

"Yes, sausages, Duncan. Eat your own!" Chris tossed one to Duncan and removed three more. "Zeke, DJ, Harold." The three caught theirs and ate them happily. When Bridgette was called, she let hers fall to the ground with a look of disgust, and Heather kept her arms crossed as hers, too, fell to the ground. Geoff caught his, and ate it with a guilty expression and Bridgette stared at him accusingly. Courtney also caught hers, but ended up handing it off to Harold as she felt it squish a little between her fingers.

"Lindsay, Noah," Chris said finally, "There's one sausage left." Lindsay smiled absently but it was clear that she was a little worried, and Noah looked to be in disbelief. His glance to Lindsay seemed to make him a little more confident, but it was clear that he was not happy to be in the hot seat. Chris let the moment settle as Harold munched a sausage loudly. Finally he held out the sausage. "Lindsay."

She let out a happy squeal and took the sausage from Chris before realizing she was holding a cooked sausage with her fingers and let it fall to the ground with gave a sharp, "Ew!"

"Noah, you managed to pick the one goat that you couldn't milk even if you had seriously tried. Buddy, you're goin' home on the Plane of Shame tonight!" The hyper-allergic law student looked miffed but said nothing as he stood. He resolutely marched through the gate leading to the tiny plane, letting the gate slam behind him.

"Very funny!" was the last thing he cried before Chef pushed him into the aircraft with his gathered luggage and shut the door hard. In a roar of engines and complaining of old, rusted gears, the Plane of Shame disappeared into the dark field in the distance and was soon gone.

* * *

_Yeah there really wasn't a question as to who was going home. Really, I can't see Noah lasting long on a farm at all. Sorry Noah fans._

_DragonCon is coming up and I have a bit of work for it so I might not update for like a week. _**I'm also hoping to have like 30 reviews by my next update****.**_ I need ideas for challenges, guys. I have the next five or six planned but after that I'm just reaching in the dark. Your help and reviews are HIGHLY appreciated! Thanks!_

_Also, Courtney and Duncan are still having difficulties but worry not because they'll be working them out soon. _


	5. Chapter 5: The Second Challenge

_I am so sorry I haven't posted you guys! I just got moved out of country and where there's a new country there's hundreds of new places to see! Especially here in gay Paris, so forgive me on the slow posting here._

_Similarly, y'all (who know how the show ends, I suppose) be sure to check out this address: http: / /www .cakeentertainment .com /pages/ cat-tda.htm (without the spaces)__ for the latest info on Total Drama Action! It's gonna rock!_

* * *

**Total Drama Redux**

_**Episode 3**_

The Pigs' return to the stables wasn't really as awkward as Beth expected. The ten of them marched in, not looking too upset, and everybody noted that Noah was not joining them. Beth made the obvious assumption that he had been the one voted off and wondered where it was he was going. She hoped it was a really cool resort like it had been last time, but she wasn't really sure where they would be keeping a five-star hotel in the middle of this farmland.

Owen appeared a little more concerned than Beth after learning that upon being voted off, one was whisked away in what Duncan had described as "death with wings." He had gone screaming around the stables, causing the rafters to shake and the floor beneath them to rumble ominously, and Beth hoped the floors above them held out, and that Owen dare not try to climb the stairs in his panic.

He finally settled down and those in the stables were able to sleep, although Beth wasn't really sure what time it had been. She could tell you that she hadn't slept very well and that it was probably due to Owen's immense snoring (she had never heard it through the cabins, why through the floors?) and a perpetual fear of being crushed in the middle of the night.

Regardless, when four thirty rolled around and Chris came banging into the stables with two iron pans, Beth was already awake and quite miserable without all the noise, thank you very much. It actually echoed through her retainers as she sat up and she was grateful she no longer sported her monster headset of dentistry or she would have been sporting monster headache as well.

"Get up, dudes!" Chris called impatiently from the living room, and Beth and the other girls begrudgingly crawled out of their beds to see what he wanted. The four doors opened slowly and ranchers poured slowly into the living room, revealing Chris with said skillets in hand. "You guys are _mega_ slow," he complained, letting the skillets fall onto the coffee table with a distinctive _clunk_. A few groans followed, but nobody actually said anything and Chris continued. "You gotta eat quick, though, because your challenge today is a little different. We _had_ a different challenge in mind for a few days from now but one of the other ranches nearby had a bit of a problem and now one of our fences is down. You're gonna have to repair it."

"Is this show really nothing more than us doing hard labor for you?" Heather asked incredulously, "Where the hell are all these profits – "

"You got twenty minutes to get dressed and eat!" Chris called, interrupting her with a lively shout. "Let's go, ranchers!"

This seemed to quiet the others, and shortly everybody had gathered in the mess hall and had acquired a relatively decent sized breakfast. All except Owen, of course, who was hastily swallowing a few whole croissants to try to make his meal of any substantial size. He ended up carrying half of them in his mouth as he scrambled to catch up with the others, who set out as soon as breakfast was finished towards the far fence.

"I hope this isn't too hard," Lindsay was saying as Beth passed her – even the shorter girl's stubby legs were moving faster than Lindsay in her designer heeled boots, and Beth bet she didn't have a single pair _without_ heels. Tyler was hastily assuring her that it would be nothing, and he could handle the work himself if it was too hard for her, and as Lindsay's grateful whines faded behind her, Beth's thoughts grew slightly more violent towards the still disgustingly preppy couple.

At least, she mused, as she passed by Bridgette and Geoff, they weren't _kissing_ in the middle of the walking path. Beth let out an unconscious grunt as she passed the two but they did not separate.

_Or bickering_, she noted as she hurriedly passed Courtney and Duncan. They were moving at a bit faster pace so she had to speed up, but was happy to be around them and listening to Courtney's shrill complaints disappear behind her. She was grateful, then, when she came upon Cody to discover him walking alone.

"Beth! What's up?" he asked as she approached and gave her a two-thumbed greeting. She smiled in response and offered a small wave.

"Hi Cody," she stated once she had actually caught up to him, "How difficult do you think this will be?"

Cody gave her a grin and a shrug before replying. "Piece of cake," he stated, giving his fist a pump, "It's just mending a fence, what's a few pieces of wood and nails? Besides, it's not like we can get mauled by a bear this time." Beth nodded in understanding, having been the one to escort Cody to the dock of shame after his painful encounter with Bear in the first season. She felt a little awkward thinking about that time, so they remained in silence for quite a while, offering only casual conversation here and there.

It was already lunchtime by the time they arrived at the gaping hole in the fence, and if Owen's stomach could tell you anything (and when food was involved, it _could_), it was well into lunchtime. There were already tools lying around, although the replacement wood was nowhere to be seen. The whole which Chris had described was also a little questionable, as there was a clear beginning to the fence, and a jagged cut into the posts there, but then there was nothing. It was DJ who ended up walking in the general direction that the posts seemed to be pointing, and who finally found the rest of the long barrier. He was almost not within shouting distance when he found it, and by the time the others had joined him – some huffing frantically from the excited run – he had followed the torn fence a good fifty meters into the property.

By the looks of the random pieces of wood strewn about, Beth gathered that something had been caught in the mesh netting and had pulled it before finally breaking free. She wasn't really sure what had happened to the other fifty or so meters, but based on the size of the creature that had done this part, she didn't think she really wanted to know. What had Chris put them up to, this time?

Beth was about to voice her complaints when the sound of hooves suddenly was heard, and they began to get louder. The ranchers all turned to see Chris riding up on a very large and important looking horse, adorned in full cowboy garb.

"The boots are definitely _not_ cutting it for you," Heather commented before Chris could even open his mouth, and Lindsay let out an, "Mm-hm!" in agreement. Chris looked offended, but dismounted the horse and ignored them.

"I guess you noticed there isn't any wood already laying around for you," he greeted after dusting off his faux leather chaps, "It's because you're going to have to get it yourself. We couldn't actually find any trees suitable in the immediate area and I think we might have lost an intern to a garter snake."

"Garter snakes don't eat people," Courtney began, and Chris gave her a sharp look.

"Yeah," he scoffed, "I know. Anyway, I heard there was some wood down by the river that way –" and he pointed in some general direction "—or maybe the other way, but regardless. Each team starts on one side and the team to make it to the halfway marker with the best fence wins the competition for today."

"Chris," Gwen began skeptically, "I know there are like 20 of us, but I don't think even this many people can cut down trees from who knows where AND install a fence in just half a day."

"It's not that much work!" Eva protested, but Chris raised a palm sympathetically.

"I know it seems like a lot of work," he said, and the ranchers were hesitant to let out a sigh of relief. "And I know you guys can't handle it in a day." They were actually getting excited when suddenly he opened the pack attached to his horse and pulled out a sack. "So that's why you're all getting your own sleeping bag for a nice night under the stars!" he threw one to Gwen, who looked positively miffed, and her eye twitched dangerously. The others were also thrown sleeping bags (although how the horse carried all twenty one, one will never know), and they stared disbelievingly at Chris.

He waited a moment before remounting the horse and giving it a swift kick. It whinnied and nearly tipped him off the back before turning around. He gave a brief wave and a, "Good luck, ranchers!" before galloping off in the direction of the ranch house.

"Great, just great," Leshawna uttered before kicking over a box of tools and looking inside, "Did anybody happen to get an ax?"

* * *

_Did you know the French don't smile? It's really disconcerting, because you have to remember it's not that they're unfriendly, they just don't smile at everything like Americans._

_Just fyi._


	6. Chapter 6: Night Fight

_Yeah, so…_

_School caught up and gave my a nice, swift kick in the rear. Sorry this was so delayed, I went through week of moving and then had to get adjusted here, and then classes started._

_Excuse, excuse, excuse. A thousand apologies!!_

_Just have the chapter, it's a big one._

**Total Drama Redux**

_**Episode 3, II**_

He was an absolute ogre. A bit overused, but really Courtney thought the word _ogre_ described him best. For example, right now he was climbing a tree and viciously yanking down branches that may or may not be dead. Courtney could just hear the poor trees crying in agony every time he laughingly destroyed a limb. Bridgette wasn't seeming to keen on it, either, especially on the occasion where Duncan ripped apart a limb only to have a squirrel go scurrying down his shirt. She had been upset that the squirrel had lost its home, but to be honest Courtney was glad the little rodent had totally freaked out the delinquent.

Of course, he was really the only one suitable for the job. Ezekiel had tried but had proven not strong enough for most cases and more dangerous in the cases where he could actually break the limb. Harold had tried as well, but his continued scrawniness only led to the limbs doing more breaking of _him_ than anything else. And DJ had tried, but upon discovering the squirrel's home he had been more hesitant towards the gathering. And Geoff was needed to help move the limbs as they came down, so Duncan really was the only one who could handle it.

"Do you have to throw them this way?" Courtney finally asked as she was forced to sidestep another piece of dead wood. Duncan gave her a grin and she found herself almost eating bark.

It was, fortunately, the last piece that they needed to gather before heading back, and they were just in time, as the sun was beginning to set. The group tossed the remaining branches in a pile towards the end they were to start tomorrow and gathered around where Harold had begun to light a fire.

While the others got comfortable, Courtney situated herself facing the other team. She had seen a rather large ball of smoke rising and to be honest, she feared a bit for her own safety, but supposed it was safer to be watching the others than not. The thought drifted around a bit before she found herself deaf to the world and happy in dreamland.

Used to sleeping in a comfortable bed on most nights and at least a mediocre one on others, it did not take long for Courtney's body to wake her with the typical stiffness and pain that comes with sleeping on the cold, hard ground. She moaned as she rose, realizing as her muscles complained that sleep would not come very easily again that night. So with a final grunt she lifted herself and moved slowly to the pile of wood awaiting them in the morning. She moved only by the light of the moon, and so after many stumbles and various curses she managed to find the decrepit old fence. She let herself drop uncourteously onto the railing with an emphasized _oomph_ and rested her chin in her hands.

It didn't take long for Courtney to get lost in her own thoughts, regarding specifically her new adventures here in this God-forsaken farm. It had really been four years, she reasoned, since the group of twenty two had separated for the final time aboard Owen's yacht, and four years since she had even seen most of the cast – and that included the dark haired delinquent that currently polluted her thoughts. He seemed to always be there, since she had first interacted with him on the bus. It hadn't been a very happy reunion, either, despite them having parted ways in… ahem, better than good terms. But that was exactly the problem – and Courtney emphasized this with by forming a fist and beating it against her other hand. The jerk hadn't even gotten in contact with her since then!

She had even taken the initiative, which took all her guts to do, and given him her phone number as they parted after the grand soiree.

But she understood better now. Just as she had returned home to a family full of disdain and, "You've had your fun, now it's time to grow up, Courtney," Duncan, too, understood that the summer camp had been nothing but a vacation from reality. In hindsight, the scenario was obvious: they had both been given a break on the island, but as she returned to her studies and her college applications, he returned to his life of crime and mindless flirting with every well-endowed thing with legs.

She couldn't blame him. Really she couldn't. They were just so different – him, a brainless bully and her, an aspiring politician. What would her opponents think of her with him by her side? He hadn't even bothered to clean up his appearance or his act in the four years she hadn't seen him—

A twig snapped behind her and she whirled around, suddenly lost from her flurry of thoughts.

_Speak of the devil_, her mind uttered and she grimaced as a dark shadow with green, almost glowing hair moved towards her. She froze up, afraid he was actually coming to join her, when she saw him kneel about ten feet away. He stayed hunched down for a moment then stood, and she could see that he was carrying with him some of the lumber that they had pulled down earlier that day. He walked with it, very slowly, to the other side of the broken rail and placed it out very carefully along the ground. Then he returned to the large pile and retrieved a few more pieces, taking them and laying them next to the others.

It continued for a good fifteen minutes, Duncan slowly moving the pieces of lumber and Courtney watching from the dark. Finally the older boy approached where Courtney was watching him and she was forced to acknowledge that they had in fact seen each other.

"If you're not going to help Princess, you're gonna have to move." When later thinking about what he had said, Courtney would sorely regret having not punched him in the face. But at the time, Duncan's voice had been so tired sounding that it was hardly his voice at all, and she had obliged so that he could continue… whatever it was he was doing.

"What _are_ you doing?" she did ask, and he gave her a look of equal fatigue.

"I'm not sleeping, that's for sure," he replied, "So I figured – " and here he took a break from speaking to lift one of the logs and brace it tightly against the last standing post, "That I might as well get us a head start."

It certainly wasn't an answer she was expecting, so she found herself completely devoid of a response. So she watched him begin to tie up the beginnings of a rail for a few moments, then found herself somehow standing at the end, offering him the little aid she could.

She could never really recount how exactly she had ended up helping, or exactly how long it took them to get the first few started. But it had all been in silence, neither really speaking nor listening as they worked – rather diligently – to put their team ahead in the game.

There was a faint light coming over the horizon when Courtney felt she couldn't take the silence anymore. Suddenly she was talking, and she couldn't tell if she had meant to speak or if the words were just pouring out of her mouth of their own accord, but there was no going back after her voice had shattered the silence.

"I expected you to call."

Maybe, she thought, she could keep working and he would never even acknowledge that he heard her – and that was if he even heard her! But immediately he stopped working and set down everything. Wiping his hands on his dirty jeans, he stood quietly for a minute, letting out a deep sigh.

"You wouldn't even hear it," he replied bitterly, to which Courtney scoffed indignantly.

"I listened every _day_ for that phone to ring!" she cried, no longer really caring that the others were mostly likely still asleep just a small distance away.

"For how long, _Courtney_?"

He was so infuriat – had she _ever_ heard him use her name before? Suddenly she forgot what she was going to say and stared incredulously at him, thinking over whatever he had just asked.

"I… what?" she managed, though her brain was now running about half speed and she could just barely register that he wasn't even smirking at her sudden thought-halt.

"For how long did you wait for my call?" When she didn't answer – because honestly, she had no idea how long she waited before she gave up – he continued, "Was it a year? Two years? Six months? Do you have _any_ how badly I _did_ want to call?"

An accusation towards her judgment was all it took to get Courtney going again.

"Well why didn't—!"

"I was in juvy!" he finally shouted, raising his voice to her level, "I went back to juvy to finish my time there and when I was too old for that, I rotted in a fucking _cell_. For _three. years._"

She shouldn't have been surprised, really, because this was the exact image of Duncan that she had been keeping in her mind for however long she had been mad at him. But the image suddenly seemed extremely foreign, as if any memory she had created of the delinquent was suddenly untrue.

"I got out on good behavior," he continued when still she said nothing, "Can you believe it?" He turned away, scratching the back of his head awkwardly and kicking a rock against the post. "I just… I kept telling myself a little longer, a little longer, and you'll be all clean. She'll like that."

_And by she, he meant you_, her brain processed for her, but she didn't really believe it. She was still sifting through the hazy image of a bad boy delinquent who broke all the rules to really process what the man standing before her had just said.

But he was watching her expectantly, and she had nothing to say. Finally, she shook her head, stumbling over a few words.

"I'm sorry," she croaked, though they sounded forced even to her own ears, "I'm sorry, Duncan. I didn't know."

"You wouldn't know," he replied hastily, "Because when I called 'cause I was free, the number you gave me was no good."

"I had it changed," she replied quietly. "When I went to university. Starting anew, you know." She let out an awkward chuckle and he reciprocated it.

"Princess," he finally managed because they had both, in their exhaustion, been overcome with laughing fits, "Princess, unless you're studying car mechanics I don't think much has changed."

"I happen to be very good at car mechanics, you ignorant ogre!" she cried back, though they were both still laughing. And as they shared a final glance and no other words, Courtney felt her imaginary Duncan fade with a tiny fizzle and the older, better memories of the boy replace him.

So while they stumbled their way into their sleeping bags as the sun peeked over the horizon, Courtney knew she had a long way to go, but she was already ten steps forward in the process.

... ... ... ... ... ...

_Ugh. Duncan is way OoC. Whatevs. I'll work on it, sorry guys._

_This feels like the end. Huh. Good thing it isn't._


End file.
